Vertical piercing-press.



No. 638,808. `Patented nec; l2,A |899. E. F. Humain.

VERTICAL PIERCING PRESS.

(Application led Apr. 27, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

m: mams Prsns co. Hom-Una, WASHINGTON n.1;

No. 638,808. Patented Dec. I2, |899. E. F. HOLINGER.

VERTICAL PIERCING PRESS.

(Application led Apr. 27, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

EMIL F. HOLIN GER, OF MCKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASS'IGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENN- SYLVANIA.

VERTICAL PIERCING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,808, dated December 12, 1899.

Application tiled April 27, 1899. Serial No. 714,644, (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL F. HOLINGER, of McKeesport, Pennsylvania,have invented an Improvement in Vertical Piercing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This improvement relates to the type of apparatus for producing hollow ingots employing a stationary vertical punch, which serves to support a hot billet upon its upper end and which is combined with a vertically-reciprocable matrix and a vertically-reciprocable ram for driving the matrix downward, and thereby compelling it to envelop the billet and force the metal thereof into the annular space between the surface of the stationary punch and the wall of the matrix.

The present invention consists in the provision, near the upper end of the matrix, of a fixed annular shoulder presenting for the u pper end of the billet an annular bearing equaling in width the thickness of the shell of the pierced billet and in the combination therewith of a vertically-reciprocable ram, adapted when in operation to ill the space within the said annular shoulder, and thus present for the middle portion of the upper end of the billet a bearing which is flush with the said shoulder and also adapted to impart forcible downward motion to the shouldered matrix. The shoulder referred to may be integral with the matrix; but being a destructible part of the apparatus it is preferred to introduce into the upper end of the matrix a bushing, which is flanged at its other end or otherwise so constructed that it can be detachably secured to the matrix. In operation when the matrix has nearly completed its downward excursion, so that the upper end of the billet has been carried down nearly to the apex of the stationary punch, the ram is elevated and a bearing-block is then placed across the upper end of the matrix or upon the upper end of the flanged bushing for receiving the impact of the ram when it is again driven downward to enforce the completion of the downward excursion of the matrix, and thus effect the punching out from the upper end of the billet of a disk of metal corresponding in diameter to the external diameter of the punch and the internal diameter of the bushing. After the billet has thus been pierced through from end to end the ram and matrix are elevated, leaving the billet shrunk fast to the punch, from which it is stripped during the final upward movement of the matrix by means of a stripper in the form of a cross-head connected to and dependent from the matrix-carriage.

The drawings, showing a vertical piercingpress embodying an illustration of the invention, are as follows:

Figure l is an elevation, partly in section and partly broken out, showing the billet deposited upon the apex of the punch preparatory to the descent of the matrix. Fig. 2 is an elevation similar to Fig. l, illustrating the stage in the piercing operation at which the descending stroke of the matrix is arrested preparatory to the elevation of the ram and the placing of the bearing-block upon the upper end of the matrix. Fig. 3 is an elevation similar to Figs. l and 2, except that it shows the bearing-block interposed between the lower end of the ram and the top of the matrix and illustrates the concluding stage in the piercing operation, during which the disk of metal is punched from the upper end of the billet into the bushing. Fig. d is an elevation similar to Fig. 2, but showing the matrix-carriage at its highest position and showing the pierced product in the position which it is made to occupy when stripped from the punch by the action of the stripper connected with the matrix-carriage. Fig. 5 is a modification showing a counterbored matrix presenting an annular shoulder, which is integral with the upper part of the matrix.

The vertical piercing-press shown in the drawings in respect of its general organization, especially with relation to the hydraulic pistons by which its parts are operated,is similar to the piercing apparatus shown and described in my pending application for Letters Patent of the United States serially num-- bered 706,366, and hence does not herein need detailed description. The said apparatus embraces a stationary vertical punch A, a vertically reciprocable matrix carriage B, moving on vertical guides for suitably alining its path of motion with relation to the central longitudinal axis of the said punch, hydraulic pistons B B for elevating said IOO matrix-carriage, a hydraulic piston C for administering the force by which the matrixcarriage is driven downward, and a stripper consisting of the cross-head D, which is perforated to loosely admit the punch A, and which is connected by the vertical bolts D' D with the matrix-carriage B.

In the present invention the matrix E is provided near its upper end with the annular shoulder a, which may be formed by counterboring the matrix so that the shoulder will be integral with the upper part of the matrix, as illustrated in Fig. 5, but which is preferably provided for by introducing into and detachably securing to the upper end of the matrix a bushing ct.

A convenient mode of detachably securing the bushing to the matrix consists in providing its upper end with the iiange a2, which is perforated to admit the vertical bolts D D, and which is secured to the carriage by the nuts D2 D2 applied to the projecting upper ends of the said bolts.

In the present case the ram B, which is secured to and actuated bythe hydraulic piston C, is formed with a shoulder b for bearing upon the upper end of the bushing or upon the upper end of the counterbored matrix, as the case may be. Beneath the shoulder b' Vthe ram is provided with the 'cylindrical extension b2, which iits the interior of the bushing and terminates at its lower end in or near the horizontal plane of the annular shoulder a.. When the matrix has been driven downward the desired distance, the ram is elevated and there is then placed across the top of the matrix or the top of the bushing, as the case may be, a bearing-block c for receiving the impact of the lower end of the ram extension b2, whereby there isimparted to the matrix` the concluding portion of the downward stroke by which the disk of metal e is punched from the upper end of the billet into the interior of the bushing, as represented in Figs. 3 and 4. The ram is then moved upward out of the way, the bearing-block c removed, and the matrixcarriage elevated, by means of the hydraulic pistons B' B', approximately into the position in which it is represented in Fig. 4.

The pierced billet, owing to its shrinkage in cooling, sticks fast to the punch A until stripped therefrom by the ascent of the stripperD, by means of which it is carried approximately into the position in which it is represented in Fig/t, from which it is readily removable. The disk of metal c may remain within the bushing, in which case it is discharged therefrom by the descending movement of the ram, during which the ram and carriage assume the relative positions in which they are represented in Fig. l. The die thus discharged from the bushing drops out from the lower end of the matrix. It will therefore be seen that the-shouldered ram in addition to performing the functions of driving downward the matrix and the billet therein contained also performs the function of a discharger for insuring the discharge from the bushing of the disk of metal punched out of the upper end of the billet, and thereby preparing the apparatus for a repetition of the piercing operation.

It will be perceived that whether the matrix be counterbored so that the annular shoulder referred to is integral with the matrix or whether a bushing is introduced into and secured to the upper end of the matrix the result is the same in respect of the facts that the matrix is thereby made to present a relatively large cylindrical chamber conforming in diameter to the external diameter of the tubular product and a smaller cylindrical chamber of the same diameter as the punch, and that in either case the downward extension of the ram iills the said smaller chamber at the upper end of the matrix during a prescribed part of the downward excursion of the matrix, and hence a prescribed part of the piercing operation, and is then removed therefrom, after which removal the matrix is by any suitable means forced to complete the remainder of its downward excursion, and thereby cause the disk of metal to be punched from the upper end of the`billet into said smaller chamber.

What is claimed as the invention is-- l. In a piercing-press for producing hollow billets, the combination, as herein set forth, of a stationary vertical punch for supporting a billet upon its upper end; a vertically-reciprocable matrix-carriage; means for imparting appropriate vertical movements to said carriage; a matrix secured to said carriage and interiorly provided near its upper end with an annular shoulder corresponding in width to the thickness of the wall of the pierced billet; a vertically-reciprocable ram adapted to bear upon the upper end of said matrix and provided with an extension adapted to fill the upper part of said matrix, and terminating at its lower end in or near the plane of said annular shoulder; a bearingblock for interposition between the upper end of said matrix and the lower end of said ram extension, and a hydraulic piston for actuating said ram.

2. A stationary vertical punch for supporting a billet upon its upper end; a reciproca` ble matrix-carriage; means for imparting ver tical motion to said carriage guides for guiding said carriage in a path appropriately related to the central longitudinal axis of said punch; a matrix secured to said carriage; a bushing inserted into and detachably secured to the upper end of said matrix; a shouldered ram for bearing upon the upper end of said bushing and for lling the space within said bushing; means for imparting the required vertical motions to said ram, and a bearing-block for interposition at the proper time between the upper end of said bushing and the lower end of said ram.

3. In apparatus for punching tubular billets, a stationary vertical punch for support- IOO ing a billet upon its upper end; a reciprocable matrix-carriage; guides for guiding said carriage in a vertical path appropriately related to the central longitudinal axis of said punch; a matrix presenting an upper cylindrical chamber of the same diameter as said punch and a lower cylindrical chamber conforming to the diameter of the tubular product; a shouldered ram for bearing upon the upper end of the said matrix and for filling the said upper cylindrical chamber; means for driving said ram downward for actuating said matrix during a prescribed portion of its downward excursion and then removing said ram from said matrix, and means operative after such removal for forcing said matrix to complete the remainder of its downward ex* cursion and thereby effect the punching out of a disk of metal from the upper end of the billet into the said upper cylindrical chamber.

4. ln a press for piercing billets, a verticallyreciprocable hydraulic ram; a stationary ver* tical piercing-punch; a carriage connected to and moving with said ram; a hollow cylindrical matrix seated in said carriage; and a4 circumferentially-lan ged bushing removably inserted in the upper end of said matrix.

EMIL F. HOLINGERi Witnesses:

FRANK L. PINKHAM, J. HERBERT STEARNS. 

